Store construction



STORE CONSTRUCTION Filed July 25, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 O O y INVENTOR Oct. 22, 1940. R. LO MAGRO STORE CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 25. 1938 If I//////////////////////// R Y m m m m 3% m M. m

llIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII) Patented Oct. 22, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

My invention relates to a new and useful store construction and it relates more particularly to the construction of a store used for dispensing odorous merchandise such as live poultry, fish and the like. As constructed today, stores of this character are obnoxious to the neighborhood in general and to the purchasing public in particular since the customer has to make a purchase in an enclosure permeated with foul odors such as the body smells and droppings of poultry or the smell of fish or the like.

It is therefore the object of my invention to produce a novel store construction by means of which the purchasing public is completely excluded from contact with the part of the store in which the live poultry or the like is displayed, and by means of which a purchase may be consummated between the attendant and the customer without any discomfort or inconvenience to the customer.

To that end \my invention consists in segregating this portion of the store and forming it into a clean compartment free of all odors, and also consists in providing means for exchange of information, money and merchandise without admitting any of the odors from the working part of the store to the customers compartment or waiting room.

My invention will be more clearly understood from the following specification and the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 represents a diagrammatic plan view of a store construction embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 represents, on an enlarged scale, a horizontal section through a speaking tube arrangement for establishing communication between the customer and the attendant.

Fig. 3 represents a section, on an enlarged scale, on line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 represents a section on line 44 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 represents a fragmentary sectional view on line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings in which like reference characters indicate like parts, a store embodying my invention will consist of a stock room I having the crates 2 containing the live poultry or other merchandise, and a slaughter or cleaning room 3 which communicates through the door 4. idesignates the customers compartment or waiting room which is separated from the stock room I by the glass partitions 6 which preferably extend from the floor to the ceiling. The compartment 5 is provided with any suitable door or doors 1 leading to the street, and it is also provided with a sliding door 8 which, through the sliding door 9, leads to the compartment I. door 8 also leads to the customers compartment III which is also separated from the stock room I by the glass partition 6. The use of the sliding doors 8 and 9 permits communication between the compartments I, 5 and Ill while, at the same time, minimizing the travel of odors from the compartment I to the compartments 5 or Ill. The compartment ID may also have a street door I I. In order to establish communication between the attendant in the compartment I and the customers in the compartment 5 I provide a form of speaking tube arrangement best shown in Fig. 2, which consists of a pair of ear pieces I2 and I3 extending to one side of the glass partition 6 and another pair of ear pieces I4 and I5 extending to the other side of the glass partition 6. The speaking tube arrangement also includes the oppositely disposed horns or mouth pieces I6 and I! which are provided with the holes I8 for venting the breath of a person speaking into either of the mouth pieces H5 or H. The speaking tube arrangement is positioned above the floor at about the average height of a person and, inasmuch as several speaking tube arrangements are used, it is possible to arrange some of them at a higher and some of them at a lower level to render them accessible to persons of different heights. The customer and attendant exchange information through the speaking tube arrangement and, if the attendant speaks into the mouth piece I6, for instance, the customer hears what he has to say through the ear pieces I4 and I5, and when the customer talks into the mouth piece I! the attendant hears through the ears pieces I2 and I3, the ear pieces extending beyond the ends of the mouth pieces I6 and I1 and being so spaced as to be adjacent to the ears of a person speaking into either of the mouth pieces.

In order to enable the customer to pay the price and to get his receipt I provide the construction best seen in Figs. 3 and 4 which comprises a stationary box formed of the wall 2| and the bottom 22 and which is fitted into the glass partition 6, and a sliding box formed of the walls 2Ia: and top 221:, it being noted that normally the top 2220 abuts against the bottom edge of the upper portion of the glass partition 6 by means of the spring 23. 24 designates guides along which the sliding box is adapted to travel. When the customer desires to insert his hand into the compartment I, the top 22:: is depressed, and when the hand is withdrawn the spring 23 automatically closes the opening. After the chicken, or other merchandise, has been purchased, the at- The tendant passes it through the door 4 into the slaughter or cleaning room 3, and after it has been prepared by the attendant and wrapped the attendant drops it into the chute 25. The chute 25 is provided with a door 26 which, by gravity, normally closes the end of the chute leading to the compartment 5. The packaged merchandise drops, by gravity, through the inclined chute 25 onto the basket or platform 2'1. At this point an attendant hands the purchase to the customer in exchange for his receipt. 28 designates a rest room provided with'washrooms 29 and accessible to the compartment 5 through a conventional door 30 and a sliding door 3 l 32 designates steps leading down into the cellar.

With reference to the partition 6 which divides the waiting compartments 5 and Ii! from the stock or attendants compartment I and the cleaning room 3, it is within the scope of my invention to build the lower portion of this partition, say, about belt high of the average person, of masonry such as bricks or tiles, or of woodwork or the like, and to extend the transparent part of the partition from there to the ceiling. Also, the money and receipt exchange sliding box construction shown in Fig. 3 is preferably fitted into the solid lower portion of the partition. This not only gives a better appearance, but also strengthens the construction. Also, the box shown in Fig. 3, for the purpose of exchange of the money and the receipt, etc., can, if desired, be provided on the side thereof towards the compartment I with any desired conventional latch or lock to lock it against unauthorized use when the attendant is absent.

The speaking tube arrangement best seen in Fig. 2 is only shown diagrammatically by way of illustration and I am not limited to the exact construction since any other means which permits communication through the partition 6 such as a microphone or other sound-amplifying equipment may be used at will.

In the present instance, the ear pieces l2, I 3, I4 and E5 are adapted to transmit sound from the central diaphragm 3i which is interposed between the mouth pieces !6 and ll.

Where the construction shown and described is used in a live poultry store, for which it is primarily intended, the segregation of the customers in the compartment 5 from the compartment I, not only protects the customers from the foul odors which are ever present, but also against the dust which is stirred up by the movement of the chickens and by their scratching. Also, it frequently happens that a chicken flies loose while the attendant is trying to extricate it or another chicken from the coops or crates 2 thus causing considerable dust and disturbance, and also it has been known to cause injury to customers as by the chicken flying in the face of a customer, or as by scaring women and children and thus indirectly causing accidents which result in inconvenience, discomfort and sometimes in injury.

It will thus be seen that according to my novel store construction the customers in the compartments 5 or E0 are completely protected from the odors of the live poultry or the like, and. that an eiiicient expeditious means is provided for exchange of information, for the payment of the price and for delivery of the goods in a pleasant and sanitary manner.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

The combination with a store construction having a compartment for the use of attendants, o

a compartment for the use of customers, a substantially air-tight transparent partition separating said compartments and having an opening formed therein, and means carried by said partition for transmitting oral communication between attendants and customers, of means for exchange of commodities through said opening in said partition comprising a lower boxlike member, an upper inverted boxlike member telescopically sliding within said lower member and a spring for normally retaining said upper boxlike member in its uppermost position, said lower boxlike member and said upper boxlike member, when the latter is in its uppermost position, completely closing the opening in said partition.

ROSARIO LO MAGRO. 

